Hunter
by Black-Inque2002
Summary: Roleplay done by myself and Freak of the Universe in which our characters, Sara and Jacinta, meet for the first time.
1. Default Chapter

Sara D'Arnise, known to many in international bounty hunting circles as The Knife, was one

of the most dangerous, and therefore top-rated registered hunters worldwide. However, at the current

moment of time, she was relaxing at her home, looking more like she enjoyed her more regular job

of being a biology teacher at Meridiana High School, instead of running amok, wreaking havoc, and

otherwise making a right pain in the ass of herself to anyone she really didn't like.

  


In order to relax from the incessant gang warfare happening outside of her (relatively)

peaceful home, Sara was playing an old game over the internet, and thoroughly smashing her

opponents. Just as the last adversary on the computer fell under a massive tank rush, and the victory

screen began to tally the kills versus losses she had applied to her opponents, Sara suddenly found

herself looking at her E-mail screen, with a little flag telling her that she had some new problems to

hash out.

  


Apparently, one client in the city was specifically asking for her, and it was her favourite

mission; Search and Rescue, which usually ended up with at least one explosive fight, often pulled

right out of Hollywood. Sara grinned as she checked all the pertinent information, memorized what

she needed, and decided to prepare herself for her nocturnal meeting with the client. Standing, Sara

checked that her gold and jewel-encrusted pendant was secure around her neck, and that her reactive

combat armour was firmly wrapped around her waist in the form of a twin belt, this time creating

an 'X' shape across her hips. Sara then went into her upstairs room, passing the guest room where

her allies such as CyberSix or Erin had crashed during some really hectic nights.

  


Once inside her room, Sara unlocked her safe and pulled out her foot-long knife, a jagged and

ugly-looking piece of steel that had seen hard use before, and would probably see even more action

later. She also pulled out her twin Desert Eagle handguns, checking to make sure that they were

loaded with the ultra-heavy fragmentation rounds for added stopping power. A half-dozen extra

magazines for the guns went into a small pouch which was strapped to the gunbelt that Sara easily

wore low on her hips, covering the dormant armour with the leather belt. Finally, Sara strapped her

knife to her right leg, allowing the hilt to rest easily just below her kneecap.

  


Sara then headed back downstairs, and opened the hidden room under her living room floor.

Inside the small room, Sara grabbed the cape that completed her armour, checking the thick cloth

for any damage as she methodically sharpened the spikes on the shoulder pauldrons, eventually

making sure that she spikes would be uncomfortable to the touch, but would not penetrate flesh.

  


Finally ready to go out, the last thing Sara did was grab the sheathed sword she almost always

carried. Looping the scabbarded blade over her back, and settling it between her shoulder blades,

Sara used the microphone in her pendant to activate her armour. The armour covered her body in less

than three seconds, and its colour shifted to an almost-black shade a few seconds later.

  


Sara then attached her cape to the shoulders of the armour, letting the two pauldrons bind to

the suit, and thereby attached the flowing cape as she walked up to her room again. Opening the

window, Sara climbed out onto her porch roof, looking around as she let her mental street-map of

the city take over, telling her which direction she had to go.

  


Sara turned toward the city's downtown core, focussing her mind for the strain she was about

to put on it through the art of calculating the equations for continued leaps versus momentum and

inertia. Sara stretched twice, remembering that she hadn't used her muscles in a long time, and then

used her armour's enhanced musculature to propel her nearly one hundred feet away. As soon as she

landed, Sara's momentum picked up, and she started moving almost faster than the eye could see.

In less than five minutes, she was almost completely across the city, and standing on a rooftop

directly opposite of her client's address.

  


________________________

  


Jacinta leaned over the railing of the balcony and gazed out at the sprawling city of Meridiana

a few miles to the north. How strange to think that she no longer lived there. She didn't really miss

it much, close friends and mother excluded, naturally. Jose had been right. There was nothing there

for her. Her life was here now, with him and often she would lay awake long into the night

wondering exactly how she had ended up like this.

  


She sighed. Well, as long as she was up, she might as well make herself useful and get down

to the training room. Even though it had been a while since she'd been in any major combat, Jacinta

didn't see any reason to stop learning and pushing herself to become better. After all, considering

whose house she now lived in, it wouldn't be a bad idea to be able to protect herself and Jose in case

something should happen. She enjoyed it anyway.

  


The training had left her with a limber body and superb reflexes, but she still had a ways to

go before she could consider herself proficient, especially when it came to using any weapons. She

had only recently started to learn how to handle a wakizashi and katana, as she had been too afraid

of accidentally hurting herself with it, but so far her fear had proven mostly academic. After a quick

change into some nondescript pants and T-shirt, Jacinta made her way into the more secluded part

of the mansion.


	2. The Assignment

Sara easily flipped up to the fifth floor balcony where the meeting was supposed to take

place, privately pleased at the lack of light coming from the skies above. She stood there for a few

seconds, breathing deeply, and then decided to wait the ten minutes for her client to appear by sitting

down in one of the plush chairs that had been set up on the balcony. Finally, the doors to the interior

of the building opened, and a large man stepped out onto the balcony.

  


He was impeccably dressed in a business suit, and oddly enough, sunglasses. Sara instantly

classified him as 'government agent'. Closing the door behind him, he looked around, confused, as

there seemed to be nothing on the balcony though the motion sensors had gone crazy ten minutes

ago. As he shrugged and turned to go back into the balcony, Sara stood up, reached over to the

person, and firmly grabbed his right shoulder. "Going somewhere? I believe you have a mission for

me, and I'm not the type who likes going anywhere without a damn good reason."

  


The man, extremely surprised, spun around and stared at the blank facade of Sara's armour.

He finally managed to regain his composure, pulling out a small flashlight and sitting down next to

a table, which was covered in papers. Sara walked over to the papers, and, using the flashlight, read

all the information on her objective. *Okay. About five-three, female, black hair, gold eyes. No

picture though. That might be a problem.*

  


Straightening, she looked at the man. "So, what's your angle? I see no reason why I shouldn't

rescue this person, but you've given me no reason to either."

  


The man sighed and looked at Sara. "She's my daughter. I haven't seen her in nineteen years,

and a few months ago I got a call from my ex-wife, saying she ran away. I decided to try and get a

hold of only hunters that know anything about rescuing people, and you were on the top of the list.

From what my ex-wife told me, my daughter's being held by some psycho named Von Reichter, but

I have no leads on that name."

  


Sara sighed, folded her arms, and nodded. "All right. I'll do what I can, and at a discount. Ten

thousand a week, no negotiation."

  


The man, surprised at the price, nodded, thinking how lucky he was. "Deal."

  


Sara smiled, knowing exactly what sort of price tag he was going to pay. "I'm not done yet.

Canadian funds, small denomination, genuine money. See ya." Sara leaped off the edge of the

balcony, spinning around in midair so she landed on the building across the street facing back toward

the balcony. She waved once, and then turned, disappearing into the gloom surrounding the city's

nightlife.

  


________________________

  


Jacinta gathered her thick black hair and tied it back. No sense in having it fly around when

she was practising with a sword. That done, she walked over to the sword rest in the sparring room

and picked up the shorter of the two blades currently lying on it. Deftly, she unsheathed it and held

the wakizashi steadily in front of her. She took a deep breath and concentrated only on the sword and

only on that moment. Nothing else mattered right now. Just let everything go...

  


________________________

  


Sara cursed under her breath, having had no luck at all in her search for the girl. Sighing to

herself as she sat on a rooftop, her armour shut down to its basic leotard form, Sara leaned back and

looked at the night sky. "Why is it that I always accept the difficult missions? Well, it's not really for

the money. I'd rather see the look on their faces when they get reunited."

  


Sara sighed again, stretched slowly, and stood up. Reactivating her armour, Sara then hopped

along the rooftops to the waterfront, deciding to look through the red-light district as an almost-worst

case scenario. Muttering under her breath, Sara soon smiled when she thought of her last visit to the

district, which ended with a dozen pimps and enforcers cradling broken bones.

  


Sara stopped on the border of the district, and, throwing her head back, she laughed, feeling

a lot better than she did twenty minutes ago.

  


________________________

  


*Ugh. The air in here is too close.* Jacinta thought to herself, lowering the blade. She

glanced at the window. *Hmm . . . outside could be better. The fresh air would help me concentrate.*

  


Picking up the saya on the floor, she resheathed the blade and made her way over to the heavy

oak door that lead to the much unused back lawn. The breeze on her face was a welcomed bit of

freedom. 

  


*That's better.* The sword flashed again as the saya came off for the second time and was

tossed carelessly aside. She held it in front of her and absently blew away a stray strand of hair. *All

right. NOW focus.*

  


The blade whistled as it sliced through the thick, tropical air. Jacinta's mind went through the

moves as her body acted them out: free stance, cat stance, half-front stance and over and over again

until she was satisfied. Her newly engineered muscles, at first clumsy, now flowed easily under her

skin like a dancer's.

  


*I'm getting better, I think. I'm not doing too badly considering that I only started doing this

almost six months ago.*

  


Sara grimaced as she finished her roofhopping through the redlight district for the second

time, wondering how in hell it could be so difficult to find a lone person in the middle of a city with

a population of about three million, give or take a few hundred greenskins. Finally giving up after

wrapping an enforcer's left arm around his head with a half-dozen extra joints.

  


Sara headed back to the centre of the city, deciding to relax by looking out over the place by

sitting on the city's guardian for a little while. She did so, looking outwards as she noticed the skies

beginning to get lighter around her. Sighing to herself, Sara mentally reviewed the list of features

the girl had, and decided that it would be easiest if she just focussed on the eyes for now. After all,

there might be all of three people in the city with gold eyes, and how many of them were about

twenty?

  


Twenty minutes later, Sara had decided to check out the faint gleam of light she had seen

south of the city, and was using the massive trees in the jungle as springboards to allow her to get

close to the slowly brightening area in front of her. Finally, Sara broke out of the underbrush and

found herself standing on a well-manicured lawn, bordering an impressive Victorian-era mansion.

Looking at the imposing building, Sara saw that some windows had been boarded over, and some

shingles on the roof were beginning to fall off, but overall the place seemed to be in damn good

condition for a house that had been left in the middle of the jungle for who knows how many years.

  


Listening carefully, and tuning out the background noise from the jungle at her back, Sara

heard several faint grunts of exertion coming from behind the immense building. Instead of going

around the mansion, Sara used the ornate cornices and windowsills to jump up to the roof,

rebounding easily between protrusions as she quickly reached the top of the building. The roof, none

too pleased at having something standing on it, creaked dangerously as she dashed up to the top of

the slanted construction. Looking down at the mansion's back yard, Sara grimaced as she saw the

back of the building was in much worse shape than the front. A swimming pool, once

Olympic-sized, was half-full of dirt, leaves, and scum, and standing next to the pool was a girl,

holding a short blade.

  


Sara watched as the girl went through several stances and types of attacks, and smiled as she

recognised most of them as part of a kendo style that focussed on shorter blades. As Sara watched

the girl's fighting style, she noticed something else. The girl's eyes were a striking gold hue, almost

seeming to glow, as the girl suddenly spun around and looked straight up at her. Sara, who had been

crouching, stood up to her full height, slowly pulling her massive dagger out of its boot sheath as she

did so. Slowly, she flipped the big blade over, letting the tip of the blade face upwards, instead of

the more defensive stance Sara usually preferred.

  


________________________

  


Jacinta gasped as her eyes fell on the dark figure on the rooftop. It was a woman with long

red hair, tall and amazingly thin. She was dressed all in black and was armed to the teeth. Jacinta

watched carefully, not daring to move as the woman pulled a long, deadly-looking knife from her

boot and held it up. 

  


*Shit! Why had I come out here? And where were those bloody Fixed Ideas when you

needed them?* She narrowed her eyes, glancing at the door, glanced again at the woman, and tried

to judge if she could make a quick dash inside and warn Jose. But he had to have known something

was wrong by now, with all the surveillance systems he had.

  


Jacinta then went for the next best approach. She shouted up at the dark clad woman, hoping

for a response that was not involving the vicious-looking knife. "Who are you?"


	3. An Encounter and A Fight

Sara looked down at the girl, then decided to get to a closer level so she actually could speak

without shouting. Taking a step forwards, Sara felt her foot slip, setting her balance off, and making

her begin to slide towards the edge of the roof. Leaning forwards as she placed her foot down hard,

Sara slid toward the roof's edge, picking up speed as she continued to slide. Right before she would

have hit the roof's edge, Sara used her momentum to vault into the air, managing to spin around and

land right behind the girl, who looked startled as she spun around, short blade at the ready.

  


As the girl turned around, Sara brought up her knife, stopping the movement of the wakizashi

before it could smack her in the side. "I'm a person who does not appreciate being knifed in the side

by the person she was hired to find. Now, partly because I don't want to be out a paycheck, and

mainly because I don't want to lose out on the reputation of having a perfect bounty rating, you're

coming with me."

  


Sara was then forced backwards a few steps as the short blade shoved against her own knife,

surprising her as the girl's strength exerted itself. Gritting her teeth, and exerting her own enhanced

strength, Sara shoved back, knocking the girl five feet away from herself. The girl spat at the ground

between the two, declaring her intentions quite clearly, and lowered herself into a stance that was

unfamiliar to Sara. In response, Sara flipped her dagger over, pointing the edge down and out, and

reached over her left shoulder.

  


She then smiled, a reaction that didn't register with her armour, and something she was

unfamiliar with when she touched the stiff leather of the sword's hilt. The sword instantly demanded

that it be fed, but Sara shook off the command, provoking a mental war.

  


To an outside observer, the only thing that happened was that Sara's hand wrapped itself

around the hilt of her long blade, paused for a few seconds, but she didn't pull the sword free.

Nodding to herself, Sara let go of the sword, instead reaching across her body so her hand rested next

to a small pouch firmly seated on her right hip. *If I can, I'd love it if I didn't have to take this one

back over my shoulder. So many people misconstrue my meaning when I bring back their kids

unconscious.*

  


The girl, not waiting for Sara to make up her mind on how to disable her, put two fingers into

her mouth and whistled, loudly. The response was almost immediate as a half-dozen greenskins burst

out of the back doors of the mansion, led by a young techno with blond hair. Sara laughed, waved

at the techno, and readied herself for the fight.

  


________________________

  


*Who the hell was this psycho chick?* Jacinta thought as she recovered from the woman's

blow. She spat on the ground and fell into an attacking stance. No one was just going to barge in and

make threats without a fight. She raised her fingers and whistled and immediately six Fixed Ideas

and a fair-haired techno came rushing outside to aid her.

  


*About damn time!* Jacinta turned back to the woman and was surprised to see her smiling

as if this was a good thing that was happening. She cocked her eyebrows in confusion. Well, it wasn't

going to be funny for very long. She pointed at the intruder. "Get her!"

  


________________________

  


Sara looked at the odds arrayed against her, and decided that playtime was not over just yet.

Just to piss off her opponents, she waited for all six of the Ideas to get within her reach before acting.

Prudently, either from fear or knowledge of what was going to happen, the techno reached out and

gently pulled the girl to the side, just in time to dodge one of the Ideas. The Idea, which had just been

sent through the air courtesy of a flying dropkick, slammed into the house's wall hard enough to

leave an imprint, which it slowly fell out of, clearly out of the fight.

  


The five Ideas nearest Sara immediately piled onto her before she could recover from the

dropkick, acting more like they were playing a game of football, though they didn't hear Sara

counting out loud. "Five . . . Four . . . Three . . . Two . . . One . . . Zero! Playtime's over! Everyone

Off!"

  


The techno, smiling to herself, almost as if she knew what was going to happen, pulled the

girl flat onto the ground, watching Sara exert enough strength to knock away all five Ideas. Then,

with enough room, Sara finally went onto the offensive, pulling her sword free, and settling into her

favoured dual-blade stance, knife held low and vertically, sword held horizontally and over her head.

  


As soon as the black blade was unsheathed, a faint hum started up inside her head, drowning

out most of the lesser noises, and seeming to sharpen the louder noises. To outward appearances

however, the black sword began to glow a faint shade of red, which suddenly shifted to a pulsing

gleam as Sara lashed outwards with the long blade, catching one Idea in the armpit with the upward

swipe.

  


The sword didn't even slow down, and the Idea stared, dumbfounded, as its left arm dropped

off, spouting greenish blood. The techno nodded, glanced at the girl, who, unsurprisingly, had

already made tracks into the mansion, cocked her assault rifle, and cursed at Sara. "Hey! Whatever

happened to a sense of fair play?"

  


Sara, in the middle of pulling her sword out of the one-armed Idea's chest, hopped up onto

the disintegrating body, knocking a second Idea backwards by carving a neat gouge out of the big

creature's chest with a flick of her knife. She then paused, looked at the techno, and broke out

laughing. "How's your leg, Jess? Last I heard, you still can't run!"

  


Jess, pissed off at the reference, not to mention the truth that she was wearing a knee brace,

stood up and fired a short burst at Sara, narrowly missing the Idea behind the bounty hunter. "Hey,

fuck you! Ideas!"

  


The four Ideas in the middle of the fray slowed down, leaving Sara free to backflip out of the

cluster, and Jess to give an order "Hit her in the stomach, as hard as possible!"

  


The Ideas nodded, turned around as Sara came out of her backflip, and, almost in unison, they

slammed their right fists forwards, all of them catching Sara in her virtually unprotected midline.

Sara didn't even touch the ground for fifty feet, and would have probably been sent a good deal

farther if a tree hadn't interfered with the flight path.

  


________________________

  


Jacinta backed away from the fight as soon as she saw the bounty hunter's black sword start

to glow a dull red. She stared down at her own short blade and quickly decided it wasn't going to

work. She ran for the door and flung the wakizashi away, sending it clattering to the hallway's floor

as she dashed down the long corridors back to the main staircase of the mansion. Up the stairs she

went and a few moments later burst into Jose's office. The little boy's head jerked up as he saw her

mince her way up to him and looking a bit dishevelled at that. 

  


"What's going on?" he demanded.

  


"There's an intruder in the back," Jacinta replied cooly. She leaned over the desk and stared

at him intently. "I had hoped you would have known by now."

  


"I did,"he replied just as cooly, crossing his arms. "Didn't the Fixed Ideas and the Techno

come?"

  


"Yes, and she's making mincemeat of them!" she exclaimed, her gold eyes flaring angrily.

"Do you have anything I could use?"

  


The boy gave her a devilish smile and hopped off of his oversized chair. He produced a small

brass key from his pocket and walked over to a chest behind him. He inserted the key into the lock,

twisted it open and motioned for her to come over. She did and saw something long and dark lying

in a velvet interior. Jose reached in and delicately removed it. It was a sheath, Jacinta saw. Of course,

she was more interested in what was in the sheath.

  


He handed it to her. "Take a look."

  


Jacinta gripped the rayskin hilt and drew out a long, sinuous katana. Its smooth, granulated

steel flashed in the early morning sun that came pouring in through the window. The sword was light

and it handled wonderfully. She stared at Jose in amazement.

  


"Only the best for you, love," he said. "Why don't you go try it out?"

  


________________________


	4. Kidnapped

Sara coughed slightly as she stood up from where she had landed, ignoring the thin trickle

of blood that dribbled from her mouth. She then screamed as she brought her right arm forwards,

popping the shoulder joint back into alignment, effectively cancelling out the dislocation the joint

had suffered when she had slammed into the now-tilted tree. Dropping to one knee from the pain,

Sara sheathed her knife, deciding to get the fight over and done with as soon as possible. Looking

up, she saw the four Ideas getting ready to charge her, so she stood up, and pulled out the magnum

on her right thigh.

  


Sara noticed her sword's more insistent demand to be fed, mentally reassured the weapon,

and fired six shots. Three of the Ideas dropped, gaping holes in their torsos or heads. All three

disappeared a few seconds later, leaving one Idea and Jess.

  


Sara looked at the Idea, holstering her pistol as she swung her sword around one-handed,

letting the long blade rest against her back as she crouched down into a cat-like posture, balancing

on the balls of her feet and the fingertips of her right hand. Sara let the sword rest mostly through

gravity, instead of using her own energy to maintain the position of the long blade, thereby

conserving her energy for the activity that she was going to go through soon enough.

  


The last Idea charged, thinking that it could win, but its thought were suddenly ended when

the razor-edged tip of Sara's sword punched through its skull, neatly impaling the Idea's brain on the

end of the sword. The Idea's neural functions did not fail however, as Sara had aimed the blade so

that the hapless victim would not die from the injury, but from blood loss. As Sara watched, her

sword pulsed greedily, absorbing the fluids from the Idea's body, and sating its thirst on the life of

another being.

  


The sword gorged itself, restoring its own energy reserves, and, as an odd measure of

appreciation, also restored Sara's own energy, making her feel stronger and healthier than she had

in a long time. By the time the sword had finished feeding, the Idea was a desiccated husk, literally

skin and bones. The body did not flare away into nothingness, as it had been so completely drained

of liquids that even the cellular reserves of sustenance had been taken.

  


Sara grinned as she pulled the sword from the now-fairly wide hole in the Idea's forehead,

and she looked at Jess, who was staring at the desiccated corpse. "So, are you next? After all, the

baby here might be feeling kinda peckish, and you look to be the right size for a dessert."

  


Jess' response was to flip the middle finger at Sara, calmly walking over to where a seat was

placed underneath a tree. "I have no desire to be killed by you. You've already killed or disabled a

half-dozen Fixed Ideas in just under thirty-seven seconds, including your recovery time from when

you were hit into the tree over there. Besides, I'm unarmed, as my assault rifle is propped against the

wall next to the back door of this place. Now, just go out and do what you came here to do, then

leave and never come back."

Sara grinned, about to speak, when she heard something behind her. Spinning, and bringing

her sword up, Sara barely deflected the overhanded slash that, if it had hit, would have left a

four-inch deep slash down her front. She stared into the burning gold eyes of the girl she had come

to take, and mentally cursed as she noticed the razor-edged katana the girl held. Outwardly, she

laughed, a short, clipped noise that set Jess' nerves on edge. "Well, this will be interesting. Western

rules or Eastern?"

  


The girl didn't respond, instead snapping her sword up into a transverse slash that could have

easily taken Sara's head off if she hadn't followed the move and blocked with the flat of her own

blade. Sara's sword neatly deflected the primary force of the blow away, and Sara shoved hard,

knocking the girl's sword out and away, opening her up to a kick to the knee. The impact didn't even

faze the girl, so Sara nodded. "Eastern it is."

  


Sara kicked outwards again, barely avoiding the edge of the katana as she forced the girl to

dodge back a foot or two. Sara then hopped backwards herself, leaving an eight-foot clear space

between the two women. Nodding, Sara then bowed towards the girl, dropping easily into her two-

weapon stance, her free hand ready to grab, deflect, or otherwise make the girl regret getting in close.

  


________________________

  


"What do you want?" Jacinta yelled at the stranger grinning at her. *Ugh! This was getting

irritating!*

  


"I already told you," Sara said calmly. "I'm here to collect my bounty. So are you going to

be a good little girl and come with me, or are we going to keep this up and not get anywhere?"

  


Jess watched, amused, as Jacinta charged again and soon the two were moving so fast it

became almost impossible to tell who had the advantage. Jumps, twists, blocks, flashing blades, and

always the ringing of steel on steel...she could barely keep up. Well, better them than her.

  


*Collecting a bounty?* Jacinta thought as she deflected another blow. That must mean

someone was looking for her. Her eyes widened in sudden epiphany. Her mother? Did her mother

send this woman to "rescue" her? But this didn't seem like something her mother would do. No...it 

wasn't right...but, who else would have done this?

  


"Who-sent-you?" she snarled, putting emphasis on all three words, as she swung again,

missing due to an overhand block that sent the taller woman staggering back a step or two.

  


Sara's smile turned cold as she riposted, sending the tip of her sword out in an attempt to

remove Jacinta's right kneecap. "Your father."

  


________________________

  


Sara pulled back from a vicious transverse slash, leaping backwards as the girl's sword

embedded itself into a foot-thick tree, easily carving a six-inch deep gouge into the solid wood. The

response from her own blade was almost instant, slamming down on the embedded katana, with Sara

hoping that the Asian sword would shatter against the supernatural power and durability of the black

blade she had used for the last four years.

  


The katana didn't even bend. Sara's arm ached from the impact, but the girl shouted in pain

and let go of her sword, which was vibrating madly from the impact of the two swords. "Now that

you're unarmed, should I dis-arm you as well? After all, it's only your father who wants to talk with

you. He said he hasn't seen you since you were a little baby, and now he wants to rectify that mistake

in his life."

  


The girl stood there, looking at Sara from seven feet away, just inches out of the maximum

arc Sara's sword could reach. Sara sighed, reached around with her free hand, and wrenched the

Katana free from the tree. Shaking her head, Sara tossed the katana back to the girl, who caught the

hilt easily. "So, in order for this to be over and done with, I may as well knock you over the head

with something blunt, make sure you're unconscious, and then drag you over to where your dad is,

just so you two can talk. Either that, or you give up now and just come with me. Besides, that way,

we're both happy, and you won't have a lump on your head the size of a chicken's egg."

  


Sara looked at the girl, whose expression was still one of profound shock, and smiled again.

"Besides, this fight is getting kinda boring. Despite my willingness to pound the tar out of you, much

less Jess over there, I'm getting kinda tired. We've been fighting for almost three hours now, and I'm

beginning to feel my age."

  


________________________

  


Jacinta slammed the katana's blade into the ground with an air of finality, the look on her

face stating that she was unwavering in her resolve. "My father?" she said coldly. "I don't *have*

a father. I don't know who set you up to this, but you are *not* taking me away."

  


*Oooo...* Jess thought, hiding a smile behind her hand. *I wonder what she's going to do

now?*

  


Sara shrugged nonchalantly and gave the girl an almost humoured grin. "Fine. Have it your

way."

  


________________________

  


Sara frowned as she nonchalantly pulled her magnum, aiming at the girl's right kneecap. "I

regret doing this. I really don't like explaining why I had to cripple someone just because they didn't

like coming home."

  


She then squeezed the trigger, firing a single bullet. The bullet, however, was deflected by

the girl's sword, which had swept to the side, angling the bullet away from her flesh. Sara fired a

second shot, aiming at the other knee, just to see if the girl's reflexes were as good as they seemed

to be. The second bullet suffered from the same fate as the first, also being deflected away with a

sweep of the sword.

  


"Well, it seems that I'm going to have to use something I didn't want to. Cheers." Sara

holstered her now empty gun, dodging a slash as she did so. Raising her sword, she beat back the

girl, shoving hard with every parry and block, trying to knock the girl off balance. Sara finally

succeeded by positioning and force, making the girl fall, butt-first, into the empty swimming pool.

  


As the girl recovered from the fall, Sara finally pulled out her weapon of last resort. A small,

blue card rested between two fingers, tiny sparks crawling over the edges of the card and over Sara's

fingers. The girl looked at the card, surprised that Sara would pull out something that looked so

harmless. "That's it? That's the weapon you've decided to use at this time? Hell, I could have pulled

a better weapon out of my back pocket, and all I have there is some lint."

  


The girl derisively sneered as she stood up, and was completely unprepared when the card

was nonchalantly flicked at her. The girl reached up to bat the card out of the way, thinking it would

do nothing, but that changed as soon as she touched the card. An expanding globe of electrical

energy surrounded the girl, flashing outwards in a dull 'whoomp' of electric discharge.

  


Sara grinned as the portable EMP promptly scrambled the girl's motor neurons, knocking her

down onto her back again, and this time keeping her from getting back up again. "Don't try to move.

You'll only hurt yourself. I know you're still conscious, and I know what you're feeling right now.

The EMP that hit you has shut down all your motor neurons, so you won't be moving for at least ten

minutes. Now, as I said, you're coming with me."

Sara then reached down, picking up the katana and its sheath, scabbarding the sword before

slinging it over her left shoulder. Her own sword was also slung before it could influence her any

more, and then Sara pulled out her basic capture gear. Two minutes later, the girl was firmly

wrapped with high tensile wire, preventing her from moving, as the wire would slice her to pieces

if she tried to struggle. Sara sighed, nodded at Jess, who had stood up and retrieved her assault rifle,

and then hoisted the girl over her right shoulder, leaping off towards the city.


	5. Chase Across The City

Jess snuck back into the mansion and made her way up to Jose's office. He was NOT going

to be pleased with what she had to tell him. She shuddered involuntarily when she reached the tall,

double oak doors. Jess could only hope that her punishment wouldn't be too terribly severe. She had

taken a month to recover from the flu after he had put her on suicide watch for two weeks.

  


Sighing, she cautiously opened the door and approached the boy with downcast eyes. He

scrutinized her, waiting impatiently for her to speak. "Well?" he snapped. "Did you two manage to

eliminate the intruder? Judging from your face, I don't think I'm going to like the answer."

  


Jess flinched. If only it was Sylvester in her spot! "The intruder is gone, sir,"she answered

hesitantly. "But...well, she took Jacinta with her."

  


"WHAT?!" he exploded, his face reddening with fury. He jumped off of his desk and

grabbed Jess's shirt collar and yanked her down to his eye level. "WHERE DID THEY GO?"

  


"I-I don't know, sir," Jess stammered, unable to look away. "It all happened too fast!"

  


"You're USELESS! Utterly USELESS!" He shoved her aside and marched purposefully to

the door. "She better not be hurt or..." he whirled around to face Jess. "I'll deal with YOU personally

when I get back!" He vanished, screaming orders to his Fixed Ideas as he ran down the hallways. 

  


*Shit...* Jess thought in terror. *I'm dead...*

  


________________________

  


Sara relaxed when she finally arrived inside the city limits, despite the fact that her 'package'

was beginning to squirm. Landing on a flat rooftop a few kilometres away from the meeting point,

Sara felt a faint hum beginning in the back of her head and moving forwards. Setting her 'package'

on the rooftop beside her, Sara sat down next to the girl and whispered for her armour to go into

secondary shutdown. As a response, it left a mask to cover her eyes, but everything else shut down,

leaving her clad in her usual jeans and long shirt. Soon enough, the buzz began to fade, making Sara

feel better. "Huh that was cutting it close. So, while we're waiting here, at least for a few minutes,

care to tell me a bit about yourself? You look like you have a story to share."

  


The girl's response was a snort of derision. "Since when do you care about what a bounty has

to say? You're probably one of those psychos who'd kill their own mother for a nickel."

  


Sara grinned, shaking her head. "No. I'm one of those rare life-forms that actually cares about

the people I contract to collect. That's first. Second, I'd prefer to kill my father than my mother. That's

a different story though, and one that I'd rather avoid. So, care to tell me your name?"

  


Sulkily, the girl responded. "Jacinta."

  


Sara smiled, looking over the rooftop as she recognized two damaged stacks and the

silhouette of an old church. "See. That wasn't so hard, right? Now, if you'll excuse me for a few

seconds, I need to grab something."

  


Sara then stood up, feeling somewhat decent towards Jacinta, and walked over to one of the

two crumbling smokestacks. She then nudged two bricks at the same time, opening up a small

compartment holding two items. One was a folded something or other, and the other was a thin rope

of whitish material. Jacinta, curious, looked at the two items and spoke up. "What are those?"

  


Sara looked over at Jacinta and gestured at the folded object. "Leisure materials. We have

a good twenty minutes to wait, and I feel like a bit of music. Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to

re-tie you with this cord here. Probably a bit more comfortable than the steel wire, but it will still

slice you to pieces if you decide to struggle."

  


Jacinta looked at the cord, shrugged slightly, and let Sara re-wrap her, wiggling slightly as

the cord seemed to constrict slightly around her. "What's this stuff? Feels almost like silk."

  


Sara smiled as she neatly sliced the end of the cord, "Synthetic spiderweb. You try to tear it

apart and it'll shred you, but at least it's more comfortable than metal cable."

  


Sara sat down beside Jacinta, and unfolded the object, revealing it to be a self-powered

musical keyboard, which she spent a few moments powering up and tuning. "Hey, pretty cool. Care

to tell me how you can afford something like that?"

  


Sara smiled as she tapped some of the keys, producing a faint melody. "Pretty easy when

you've become a closet millionaire. Hell, I don't even need to hunt anymore. I just do it for the fun,

and for the chance of being able to meet up with someone who actually can hit back. By the way,

your sword-fighting skills need a bit of work, but you're still pretty good."

  


She then bent her head forwards, concentrating on the music she created. Eventually, over

the sad melody, Jacinta heard a familiar voice screeching out orders, and so she turned over onto

one side and watched as Jose waltzed right into the middle of the street, looking up at her. "There

they are! Get them!"

  


Sara's music continued, as if she hadn't heard the loud command, but her lips moved and her

armour reacted, covering her body and the rest of her face again. Calmly folding the keyboard away,

Sara looked at Jacinta, cocked her head to the side, and seemed to smile. Standing up, she turned and

looked straight at Jose. Sara then yelled, loudly enough to make Jacinta's ears ring. "Hey Jose!

Remember me? I bet your butt does! Still got the bootprint?"

  


Jose's response was a shout of anger, which was enhanced when Sara picked up Jacinta, using

her armour's enhanced strength to easily sustain the hold, and started to run along the rooftops.

"Catch me if you can, little boy!"

  


________________________

  


*She's still tying me up?* Jacinta thought. *Like I'm really going to do anything.* She

brooded, listening to the melancholy music Sara had playing. What a fine mess! All she'd wanted

to do was just train this evening and here she was being kidnapped. She realized she was acquiring

a particular knack for getting into situations like these without even meaning to. 

  


*Hmph!*

  


Still, she'd been more than a little surprised when Sara had actually complimented her on her

swordsmanship, but any feeling of goodwill was quickly swept away when Jacinta heard a familiar

voice on the street below. "There they are! Get them!"

  


It was Jose! The mere sound of his voice brought an unbidden smile of delight to her face.

Finally! 

  


Sara didn't seem to notice Jacinta's reaction and quickly shouted down an insult which made

the girl scowl at her from the corner of her eye.

  


"Hey-!"she gasped as she felt Sara pick her up again. 

  


"Come and get me, little boy!"Sara teased as she took off. Five Fixed Ideas immediately gave

chase.

  


"What are you doing?" Jacinta shrieked. "Put me down!" She wanted to move, to lash out

somehow, but Sara's warning that her bonds could slice her kept her from doing so. She felt

frustratingly powerless and that was one of the things she hated the most. That was how Von

Reichter had made her feel many a time.

  


"Not until I get my business done! I came to collect and that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

  


Jacinta gritted her teeth and hoped that the Fixed Ideas and Jose would catch up. 

  


________________________

  


Sara noticed Jacinta's movements, and thumped the girl in the stomach with her right

shoulder, digging in the pauldron's spikes just far enough to make the girl realize she was basically

riding on a bed of nails and squirming wouldn't help too much. "Stop complaining. You're getting

a free ride, and you'll have a story to tell after I let you go. However, if the little boy doesn't stop

following me around, he's going to have a matching bootprint on his right buttock."

  


As Sara spoke, she deftly pulled her untouched magnum from its holster on her left hip,

checking the action by flipping the safety on and off a few times. Jacinta, not appreciating her

undignified position of being slung over Sara's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, cut loose with every

swear word she could think of, mostly calling Sara's genetic ancestry into question. Sara's response

was a chuckle. "Are you sure you're old enough to be using words like that? I think you'd deserve

a spanking if I was your mother or your legal guardian."

  


The response was another array of invective, more inventive than the last variety. "You

wound me, Jacinta. I guess it's my turn." Sara half-turned, curling her body inwards as she jumped

over a street intersection, and opened fire at the five Ideas pursuing her. Sara emptied the gun in a

hurry, not caring about aim or ammunition expense, as she succeeded in what she had planned. All

eight bullets missed the Ideas completely, but three of them hit an electrical line, which fell onto the

roof she had just vacated, and two more hit the small water reservoir on the same roof, punching a

neat set of holes through the tank, and soon covering a sizable area of the roof with water.

  


As soon as the two met, every living being in the water suddenly realized why power lines

should not get wet. Sadly for Sara, only one Idea was too slow, as the rest were already airborne,

though it did make a very satisfying sizzling noise when it was electrocuted.

  


Jacinta screamed her frustration, wrenching her right arm back against the webbing holding

her. The webbing held, but, through sheer dumb luck, did not slice into Jacinta's skin. However,

Jacinta's elbow smacked Sara in the side of the head, sending Sara off course. Sara landed badly on

the next rooftop, staggering for a second as she recovered her bearings. However, by the time that

happened, Sara was surrounded by four extremely angry Ideas, including one very large one that

slowly cracked his knuckles.

  


Sara looked at the odds, calculating her chances of winning, and frowned. "Well, if that's the

way you want to play... Hiya CyberSix!" Sara yelled loudly, and when the Ideas turned to look, Sara

took off like a bat out of hell.

  


Jacinta snorted, looking up as Sara leaped over a vent stack. "Sneaky. Care to let me go

before I make you smack into a wall?"

  


Jacinta smiled as she wiggled again, throwing off Sara's stride. "Please. This just makes it

more fun. By the way, who said anything about being sneaky?" Sara grinned as she watched an Idea

sail through the air from behind her, and chuckled to herself as the Idea hit a stone wall hard enough

to destroy part of the wall.

  


"Crap. Well, there's always reinforcements." Just as Jacinta finished speaking, seven more

Ideas took the cue to appear and surround Sara. "Told ya so."

  


Sara sighed and stood in the middle of the slowly tightening group, wondering how in hell

she was going to get out of this one.


	6. The Meeting

Ugh! This was getting more infuriating by the second! Not only was she tied up and slung

over some stranger's shoulder like a caveman's fresh kill and getting humiliated all the while, but

those blasted Fixed Ideas were successfully getting themselves electrocuted and slammed into walls.

More came to replace the fallen, which made her glad, but not very reassured. 

  


*Whoever my "father" is, I'm going to have it out with him!* She thought resolutely. If he

was SO concerned, he wouldn't have done something this pointless. In fact, it would have been better

if he had just left her alone. She hadn't needed him before and she didn't need him now. Didn't he

and this woman realize that anybody who gets kidnapped never come willingly? 

  


"How much longer?" she asked. "I'm getting kind of tired being treated like an animal."

  


________________________

  


Sara laughed as she neatly leaped onto the shoulders of one Idea, using the immense

creature's shoulders as a springboard. Listening to Jacinta's complaint, Sara nodded to herself,

landing on the next building in the chain as she did so. "Ten more minutes, depending on how long

it takes for the little boy to give up and leave us alone for about an hour."

  


Sara then ducked under another Idea's punch, kicking outwards as she skidded along the

rooftop for a few seconds, and virtually neutering the poor creature as she continued towards her

meeting point. Finally, fed up, Sara stopped and yelled out towards Jose, who had managed to catch

up to her by riding one Idea like a pony. "Hey! Little boy! Parley!"

  


Jose, seeing that Sara was still well-armed, decided to listen to Sara's proposal. "What do you

want, bitch?"

  


Sara smiled as she gently placed Jacinta on the ground. "Here's the deal! Either you give up

and leave us two alone for two hours, after which I return the girl to you, unharmed, or I give up now

and put a bullet through her head."

  


As Sara spoke, she pulled out one of her two magnums, and ejected the empty magazine. As

Jose spluttered, Sara calmly reloaded the gun, and pointed it at the bridge of Jacinta's nose. Jacinta's

response was predictable, and one that, ironically enough, helped Sara's cause more than hindered

it. "Are you fucking insane? Why the hell would you want to kill me?"

  


Sara laughed, sounding crazier than normal as she did so. "And? It's only ten thousand. But,

if he doesn't back off, he'll be out one significant other, and I don't think he wants that."

  


________________________

  


Jose immediately signalled for his Fixed Ideas to pull back. If it hadn't been Jacinta on the

shooting end of the gun, he would have personally sought this vendetta through. God, did he hate

having to give in! But, if it meant saving her...

  


He scowled venomously and replied, "Two hours given. But you better not put a scratch on

her or--"

  


"Yeah, yeah," Sara interrupted casually. "She'll be fine. I'm just taking her on a little trip."

She relaxed her hold on the gun, but did not put it away, just in case the little brat went back on his

word, as he was known to do. But he didn't. Instead, he seemed to crumble, sliding off of the Fixed

Idea's shoulders, and landing dejectedly onto the pavement below. 

  


Jacinta, meanwhile, sat there brewing in a mix of hatred for the woman's flippant attitude and

insults of herself and someone else she cared for, humiliation at allowing herself to be stolen away,

and sadness for not being able to leap down onto the street and go back to the place she now called

home. 

  


The Fixed Ideas limped back in the direction that they came, Jose and Jacinta exchanging one

last meaningful, cryptic glance before he finally turned away. Sighing, she let Sara sling her over her

shoulder and be carried off...*again.*

  


________________________

  


Sara nodded to herself as she felt the resignation in Jacinta's reaction, holstering her pistol,

hopefully for the last time this night. After five more minutes of movement, Sara finally landed on

the balcony where the meeting was supposed to take place, and, after pulling her knife and cutting

away Jacinta's bonds, Sara hammered on the door with the hilt of the jagged blade. The response was

amazing as Sara's employer suddenly appeared at the door, looked at her for a few seconds, and then

came out onto the balcony.

  


Behind Sara, Jacinta was idly wondering if she could pull her katana out from the scabbard

resting on Sara's back, cut down the hunter, and make a run for it before anyone could call the police

on her, but that thought was shot down when Sara half-turned and looked pointedly at her. "Jacinta,

may I introduce the person who wanted to meet you." Sara then stepped to the side, seemingly fading

into the shadows as Jacinta looked up at the man who had contracted her rather ignomious trip across

the city.

  


"Hello Jacinta. I've heard much about you, and I would like to learn a bit more, if I could."

The tall man seemed to be impeccably dressed for someone who had just been awakened at what

looked like three AM, and he was wearing sunglasses for some odd reason.

  


Sara, who hadn't even left the balcony, watched, virtually detached as she noticed a hulking

green brute standing on the nearest rooftop with a little glasses-wearing lump on one of the brute's

shoulders. Sara didn't bother to wave.


	7. I'm not going back

Once her bonds were cut, Jacinta reached up and let her hair down, grateful that at least some

of it would hide her suspicious gaze. This man did not seem like the type her mother would have

gotten involved with. He was...creepy. She wondered why in the world he would be wearing

sunglasses when there was obviously no sun to be seen. 

  


She decided then that if she were going to speak, she'd only do so in her native Spanish. No

one else needed to know what she had to say.

  


She was silent for a long moment and then said with an edge of sarcasm, "You want to know

more about me? You want to know how you left my mother for no reason and how much you hurt

her? You want to know how we had to scrape a living to get by on our own? Or do you want to know

how I was always wondering where the hell you were?"

  


The man endured her outburst very patiently. "Yes, I'm sorry for all of that. But you have to

realize that your mother...well, she was quite different in ways I'd never imagined..."

  


Jacinta rolled her eyes and shot back, "Yeah, I already know and whether you like it or not,

I have part of that blood in me. Why don't you just go back to where to you came from? I don't know

you."

  


The man seemed wounded. "You have to realize, Jacinta, that it was frightening to me when

I found out what your mother was. I didn't know how to deal with it. I was young and naive. I didn't

even know I had a child until recently. But I'd like to put that all behind me, to start over again.

Would you at least give me that?"

  


Her eyes smoldered, but part of her did feel a twinge of pity for him. Still...

  


"So why the bounty hunter?"she asked, her tone softening a little and sidestepping his

question. "I don't think that was the best way to do this."

  


The man nodded to Sara. "She's the best in the business. Besides, when I found out you had

been kidnapped..."

  


Jacinta interrupted with a sharp, mocking laugh. "Kidnapped? Please! I ran away and not

without good reason." She sighed irritably. "So, are we done now?"

  


"Done?" the man said in confusion. "But we've only just met. I know you're angry with me,

and you have every right to be, but don't you think you should come home now and we can try being

a real family?"

  


*How dare he scold me like a child?* Jacinta thought. *He doesn't know anything!* "I have

a home, thank you, and you don't belong there. Maybe if you had bothered to find us a few years ago,

it would have been possible. Maybe I would have even liked it." She stood up in a brisk, businesslike

manner and shook her head. "I really don't have anything more to say to you. You missed your

chance. If you think that we can just start all over and pretend like nothing happened, then you're

more wrong than you know. Mom and I have been through too much. She was there for me when

I needed her but you never were. As far as I'm concerned, I never had a father and I don't need one."

  


________________________

  


Sara listened to the rapid-fire Spanish, noticing that the two seemed to be getting along. That

was before the last exchange, and the man seemed to deflate. Turning to Sara, he nodded. "Your

contract is fulfilled. Your money is inside, and I'll get it for you."

  


Turning into the room, he reached out and grabbed a suitcase, which he gave to Sara. Sara

nodded, checking the money inside the case to make sure that it was authentic. Smiling to herself,

she snapped the case closed and looked at Jacinta. "So, it's your move. Do you want to go back

now?"

  


Jacinta nodded, looking out towards the sky. "Yeah. I don't think there's anything else to talk

about."

  


Sara nodded, pointing towards Jose. "Well, there's your significant other." Sara and Jacinta

leaped over to the rooftop, landing about ten feet away from Jose. Just as Jacinta turned and started

moving towards Jose, she felt Sara's hand on her arm. "Wait up for a second. I want to give you

something."

  


"What? It's not like you did anything useful for me tonight." Jacinta shook off Sara's hand,

turning to walk away.

  


"I want to apologize. I saw how you looked at Jose when I pulled the gun on you, and I am

sincerely sorry about what I had to do. Here. You look like you'd need it more than I do, and I hope

to meet you again. Maybe I can teach you something about your sword fighting." Sara gave Jacinta

back her katana, and then pressed the case of money into the surprised girl's hands.

  


"By the way, try to keep him out of trouble. I don't want to fight everyone I meet anymore."

Raising her hand, Sara waved Jose over to where the two women stood, and then left the two alone,

leaping off into the darkness of the city.

  
  


Epilogue:

  


Jacinta stared in wide-eyed shock as Sara vanished into the night. She had never expected

anything along the lines of an apology or even sympathy. Yet here she stood, the bounty of said

hunter in her own grasp.

  


*She gave me her reward money.* She thought, feeling the weight of the suitcase dragging

her arm down. *I can't believe it...*

  


She waited until Sara was out of sight and then turned toward Jose, whose eyes were also the

size of saucers. She walked stiffly towards him, and the Fixed Idea came to assist her with the

suitcase. "What was that all about?" Jose asked. 

  


Jacinta ran a hand through her hair. "Well, it turns out my father was out looking for me. He

sent that woman to come "rescue" me from your evil clutches."

  


Jose started, then let out a delighted scornful laugh. "Rescued? Please!" He grew serious

again. "Your...father, you said? But..."

  


She held up her hand to stay the oncoming question. "I know, I know. He wanted me to go

back with him and start over. He wanted us to be like the family we never were. I told him it was too

late. I already had a family." She smiled at him a bit sadly. "I really would have liked that, you know.

But too much has happened."

  


He slipped his hand into hers. "I'll say. From now on, don't go outside for practice."

  
  


A/N: This is a collaboration between Black Inque and myself, and I think that we did a damn good

job at producing something that is both revealing and action-packed. Besides, when would these two

ever meet in any other way?


End file.
